The Missing Link
by amanda.goddard.982
Summary: Maverick has spent the last few years of her life surrounded by death, until she finds herself in the house of her distant relatives, the Salvatores. Jeremy instantly catches her eye, she gets introduced to the vampire world, and finds out something about herself that will shock even the brothers. Set in season one, but the timeline changes where the fic picks up.
1. Chapter 1

I stepped off the bus with my bag and glanced around the town square of Mystic Falls. I was a Salvatore by blood but not by name, the rest of my family was dead so I shipped in the middle of bum fuck nowhere to live with my distant cousins Damon and Stefan. I scanned the small buildings looking for the Mystic Grill where I was supposed to meet Damon. I was missing my home town of St. Louis Missouri. I hated the heat, mosquitoes, and I wasn't a fan of the Thrashers.

Walking across the park I thought about the two men I would be staying with from now on. Even though I wasn't immediate family to the Salvatore brothers I had heard the stories about the two. Stefan the rehabilitated ripper and Damon the wild card, whom you could never trust. I should've been scared, but I couldn't bring myself to be. They were still people... sort of.

I opened the door to the restaurant and instantly felt out of place. My blue hair and colorful makeup did not fit in. My dark clothing, on the other hand did. What was it with vampire towns and dark, ominous clothing. "Maverick?" I heard a voice ask. I turned around to see a pail man with jet black hair and a sly smirk towering above me. "I'm sure you had a long drive so I'll get you something to eat and then we can head back to the house."

Following him to a small booth I felt my stomach twist, I was less afraid of the fact that he was a predator, but more of the fact that I had no idea who he or his brother was. I picked up the menu that was already sitting on the table and scanned it until a certain burger caught my eye. Before me or Damon could start up a conversation an attractive waiter came up to take our orders. "You can go ahead." Damon said to me.

"I'd like a double bacon burger with a Dr. Pepper." I said flashing him an attractive smile. He was tall with dark hair and wore way too much makeup for a boy, which I found even more alluring. When he turned to look at Damon I caught the name on his name tag, Jeremy. "Damon?" Jeremy asked.

"Just a scotch." Damon said casually. The two sounded like they knew each other. As Jeremy walked away my eyes lingered on his butt. "Oh on. Don't even think about it." Damon said shaking his head. "That is Elena's brother."

"Who is Elena?" I asked partially out of curiosity and partially because it would have to take a good reason for me not to go after that.

"Elena is Stefan's very human, very aware girlfriend." Damon said. We quieted whenever Jeremy came back with my food and our drinks. Damon just started to sip and sat back watching as I dug into my food. "When was the last time you ate?" He said, he didn't seem worried though. I shrugged, not wanting to admit I hadn't been able to eat very much the past three days. "Anyways, you'll have today and tomorrow to settled in the house and town, but then you start school Monday."

I frowned a little, I had a habit of skipping school. "Be careful you now have two vampires as guardians and if you become too much of a pain I'll just eat you." I rolled my eyes at him, for some reason I didn't believe him.

After I finished up eating Damon grabbed my bags and headed out towards a classic looking car, before he could finish loading my stuff up though, a brown headed girl came up to us. "Damon, what are you doing with a small child." The girl was petite and had an unforgettably beautiful face. My eyes narrowed, it wasn't that I didn't like her, just that she made the assumption everyone else made, that I was much younger than I really was.

"Actually I'm fifteen, and my aunt died so I'm staying with my remaining family, the Salvatore brothers." Realizing I had been harsh I held out my hand for her to shake smiling. "I'm Maverick by the way." I said. She shook my hand tentatively. "No I'm not one of them." I whispered.

"Be careful Damon can be unpredictable, if you need anything you can come to me. I'm Elena Stefan's girlfriend" She said before walking towards the Grill and a blond headed girl. Damon was glaring back in their direction. I couldn't tell if he was glaring at Elena or Elena's friend.

"You not a fan of her?" I asked.

"No, it's not that, it's just the blond there used to be one of my toys until Elena and Stefan took her away from me." He growled and got in the drivers side. I circled around and got in the passengers side. "Don't listen to her, my brother thinks it's terrible to have fun, where I embrace the reckless life."

I just nodded my head chuckling. "This'll be interesting." I whispered to myself. When we arrived at the house my jaw dropped. It was massive with a very Victorian style to it, making it even more grandeur. "Is this your house!?" I asked in disbelief. I got out and grabbed my bags.

"Yah, home sweet home, I have some errands to run, Stefan is home so he will help you get settled in." He said also getting out. He winked at me and then disappeared in a flash. I took a deep breath and walked up to the door ringing the doorbell. Stefan answered a second later.

"Good you made it." He said letting me in. "Where's my brother?" He asked taking my bags from me.

"He said he had some errands to run." I said distracted by the beauty of the building I was standing in. "Said that you would show me my room and stuff." I looked back over to Stefan, he was grinning at me.

"So you think you'll like it here?" He asked, he genuinely seemed concerned, unlike his older brother. I just nodded. "Good, I'll show you to your room." He said and started walking up a wooden staircase. Stefan eventually led me to a light wooden door. "Everything in there is yours, if you want anything extra you can come to me or Damon."

"Thank you for everything." I said smiling, and opened the door to my new, lavish room.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to a quiet house, although I had quickly noticed that it was eerily quiet in the large home. I yawned looking at the suit cases that I still hadn't unpacked yet. I contemplated getting dressed but eventually just wandered downstairs to the kitchen. "We don't really have any breakfast food but you can cook something if you want." Stefan said from where he was sitting in the living room, it looked like he had been writing in a notebook. "You can cook right."

"Yeah I can cook." Opening up the fridge I spotted a carton of eggs I grabbed it out and started rummaging through the unfamiliar kitchen to find the rest of the supplies that would be needed.

It wasn't long until I was whisking together two eggs and an assortment of spices. "What are you making?" Stefan asked walking into the kitchen, he had a glass of bourbon in his hand. He walked over to where I still had my ingrediants sitting out. "Have you taken classes?" He asked impressed. It took my like thirty years to learn how to cook like this!"

I laughed. "I really don't know much, I like to experiment and sometimes it turns out amazing by chance or it's just terrible." Once the scrambled eggs were finished I scraped it on a plate and left it a moment to cool.

"Have you unpacked?" Stefan asked helping put away what I had gotten out. I shook my head. "I'm worried, about you, I want you to be happy, but I'm not sure you will find that in this town." I looked over at him with shock. It was odd to me that he would care so much, we hadn't even met before. "I was there the day you were born." He said suddenly.

"How did that happen? My family hates-hated you." I corrected myself quickly grabbing my plate of egg. A streak of grief hit me suddenly, images of my parents, sibblings, cousins, and aunt and uncle flooded my brain. Furiously I wiped tears from my eyes.

"I'm going hunting, you can do whatever. You can hang out here or go into town just send me or Damon a text so we know kind of where you are at." The younger Salvatore said grabbing his jacket.

"Don't tell me you're going to be overbearing." I teased, thinking about how lax the two brothers really were.

"It's for your own safety, this town is full of bad luck." He explained and walked through the door. I finished my eggs and walked back up to my room to unpack. This was the third house I had been in in the last year, I was starting to feel like a curse had grabbed on to me.

It didn't take me long to unpack, each move I made I got rid of a little more of my personal belongings, it was a pain in the butt to pack it all. Once I finished that I dug out a pair of skinny jeans and a scarlet tank top. I finished it off with a cuff bracelet and a black and white checkered scarf.

My plan was easy for the day, I was going to grab some cash and head to the Mystic grill, if Jeremy wasn't there then I could at least ask when he worked. When I got outside of the house, though, I realized I had no means of transportation.

"Where are you headed?" Damon asked me. He had flashed up beside me, he was wearing the same clothes he had on last night, except this time they were stained, he had fed last night.

"Mystic Grill, or at least I was going to." I trailed off, hopeful that he'd offer me a ride.

"First off it's just the Grill, secondly do you have your license?" He asked me. I nodded my head, terrified that he would let me drive a vehicle. My aunt and uncle had lived in Maine so I got to get my license at fifteen instead of sixteen, but that didn't mean I was good at driving.

"Take these, there's a neon in there, it was a victims car, and I couldn't just leave so you can use it." He said. I sighed in relief if I hit something I wouldn't get in as big trouble. I walked over to the garage and opened the door.

It didn't take me long to figure out how to get to the square, it was a small town where every road could lead you to a road that could lead to where you needed to go. Once I found the square I found a parking space out of the way, and then walked to the restaurant.

I took a deep breath before walking in. There was Jeremy waiting table, he ran over when he saw me waiting at the door way. "Sorry, is it just one?" He asked.

"Yeah, just me." I said, he grabbed a menu and led me to a small table. "So you're Stefan's girlfriend's brother." I said forcing him to stay and talk for a moment. The Grill was practically empty.

"You're staying with the Salvatore's aren't you?" He asked me, seemingly just as curious as I was. "Hows it like there, those two seem pretty... odd." He said, he had been searching for the right adjective.

I shrugged. "They're nice enough, let me borrow a car. Can I have the bacon burger again?" I asked. He nodded and went to leave but then paused. "There's a party down at the creek this Friday night, you should come, it'll be fun." He said, I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. "As long as you're there."


	3. Chapter 3

I spent the rest of the Sunday wondering around the town, trying to get familiar with everything. If I was going to be driving myself then I would need to know the road names and basically where everything important was.

Once I saw the sun begin to set I started heading back towards the Salvatore estate. As selfish as I was, I was slightly dissapointed that I could never inherit the land due to the immortal sons of the original owner.

By the time I pulled up the gravel drive it was almost completely dark outside. I parked and walked towards the door. Before I could open a furious Stefan was standing in front of me, I jumped. "What, what's wrong!" I said worried.

"Never stay out after dark alone!" He snapped dragging me into the house. I knew he wasn't trying to but his grip was harsh and he was beginning to scare me. "We aren't the only vampires in this town, Mystic Falls attracts those like us!"

"Stefan you're hurting me!" I shouted my eyes wide. Stefan had dragged me into the parlor. Damon was standing next to the fireplace drinking alchohol, it seemed like they were always drinking.

"So he found you." The older brother said glancing over at me. "You should have seen how worried he was running around like he was the one in danger!" Damon smirked at the two of us before realizing Stefan's grip. "Stefan you're hurting her." He said nonchalantly.

Stefan let go immediately. "I'm sorry." He said, his face was instantly filled with remorse. "You just scared me, people get hurt around me, especially in this town." He walked out of the room, and was left completely confused other than one clear thought. I was never going to stay out after dark alone again.

"Why don't we get some dinner." Damon said as he poured a second glass of scotch and handed it to me. "I hear through the grapevine that you already got invited to a party." He said. I followed him to the kitchen.

"Yeah I ate lunch at the Grill today and Jeremy invited me, Stefan won't care about that will he?" I asked worried. I definitely wasn't going to make Stefan worry again if that was his reaction to it.

"We won't care, you'll be surrounded by teenagers, the only vampire stupid enough to do this would be me, and obviously you don't have to worry about me." He said with a wink and started grabbing ingredients out of the cabinets.

I didn't say anything, but the we at the beginning of his statement made me happy. He would probably never admit it, but he had been worried too, that was the reason behind his brooding by the fire, and him correcting Stefan's accidental grip.

Me and Damon cooked dinner then called Stefan to eat with us. They asked me how my day went, and if I thought I would like it here. It was surprising how normal everything felt, I always thought that they would be more ferocious, constantly avoiding me.

Me and Stefan cleaned up while Damon retired to his room. I took a shower and looked at the time, it was already going on nine. I went to my room chose my outfit for tomorrow and laid down to read a book for a little while before going to bed.

My alarm clock woke me up at seven thirty in the morning I groaned rubbing my hands over my face, fighting of drowsiness. I shut the up the blaring noise and grabbed my clothes out of the drawers. It only took me fifteen minutes before I was ready for school, giving me enough time to eat before heading out.

I was surprised to see Stefan also downstairs eating, with a backpack sitting on a kitchen chair. "You go to school?" I asked shocked, setting toast in the toaster.

"Uh, yeah, for Elena mainly, I already know everything they're teaching and then some." He said scrolling through his phone. "You riding with me?" He asked after a second.

I was spreading jelly on my toast and looked at the time. "As long as I can eat this on the way." I said waving it around. Stefan nodded so I took a giant bite out of it and then grabbed my bag following out to the garage.

It was a surprisingly long drive to the school, twenty minutes. I got out of the vehicle and look apprhensively at my new school. "Do I really have to go in there?" I asked a twisted feeling beginning in mu gut.

"Yes, you really have to go" He said and got out of the vehicle. I watched him walk up to Elena and give her a kiss. I got out too, a little less inthusiastic and looked around. "If we want to hang out with us today you can." Stefan asked. It was a tempting offer but I didn't want to seem like a tag along.

"No, it's okay, I'll be in classes ninety percent of the time anyways." I said and headed inside to find the offices so I could get my schedule. It didn't take me long to find it, the school was small and had a very block shape, very different from the maze of a building that my old school talk.

"Thank you." I said smiling at the secretary whenever she handed me my paperwork. I turned around and walked down the halls, looking for my locker. I finally found it and smiled relieved. I tried opening it but it stuck, I groaned. Tugging on it harder I still couldn't get it, so I yanked on it with all my strength. It swung open abruptly, right into Jeremy.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" I shouted and ran over turning his face towards me so I could make sure he wasn't seriously injured. "Gah, I'm such a mess."

He laughed gently pushing me away. "It's all good. It happens." He said. I blushed looking down. When I looked back up our eyes met, we stood there stagnant for a few moments before the bell rang, spurring us both into movement. "I'll see you later!" He called.


	4. Chapter 4

I quickly learned how segregated the school was, but not in your typical way. There were of course the druggies and the jocks but other than that there were only two other cliques, the kids who've lived in this town for generations, and those who just moved here. It was annoying to me especially since, even though Stefan just moved here, his name was Salvatore so he had the privilege of hanging out with richer kids. I bit my lip, realizing that, even though my last name wasn't Salvatore, I was living in one of the biggest houses in Mystic Falls.

"How's your day been?" Stefan asked, Elena followed him to come sit by me. It was a small enough school that there were only two lunch times. I looked up from my surprisingly good hamburger towards the small group that sat down beside me, including Jeremy.

"It's been okay, its school you know." I said quietly taking a bite of burger, semi wishing that I could just eat alone. I wasn't a fan of a large group of people I hardly knew coming to sit by me and flooding me with questions. "So, are you interested in cheer leading?" A dark girl said to me, she seemed to Elena's age, the blond girl from the other day was also there. I let out a laugh at the question, me cheer leading, no way in hell, in my old school me and my friends pestered the cheer leading team for fun. "No, sorry." I said.

Stefan was also fighting a smile, but it seemed off, like he wasn't laughing at me, not with me. Then I noticed all three girls at the table glaring at me, an Jeremy blatantly chuckling. "They're all cheer leaders, well, Elena used to be, she hasn't this year." Jeremy explained. A look horror crossed my face, I would've guessed the blond headed girl would be one, but definitely not Elena.

"So if you aren't into cheer leading what are you into?" Stefan saved me from the awkward grave that I had dug myself into.

I sighed in relief. "I, uh," I wracked my brains for something that enjoyed doing lately. Ever since my parents died, all I did was sit inside and watch TV. "Do funerals count?" I asked as a joke, to which no one laughed, except for Elena.

"Well if they do then that saves me from being the weird loner girl." She smiled, I realized that not only was she trying catch me, since I had jumped into the same grave that Stefan had just pulled me out of. I'm sure it seemed to other people that I didn't want to socialize, or was purposefully bad at it. Which wasn't true. "So what is it like living with the Salvatores?" Elena asked. I watched Stefan's face harden, was he scared that I was going to tell Elena about him hurting me.

"It's interesting..." I trailed off. "Stefan is normal enough, but Damon is also walking in with clothes inside out early in the morning." I said, it wasn't quite the truth but I felt that saying everything was perfect would be an obvious lie. "I'm so sorry, I haven't even introduced myself." I said suddenly shaking my head. "I'm Maverick."

"Bonnie." The girl who had asked me if I were a teenager said. "And the blond over there is Caroline." I nodded and smiled. "I think you already know Jeremy and Elena."

I nodded my head. "I met them at the Grill the day I got here." We went back talking and eating, me mostly listening to them talk about how Stefan had made the football team, but didn't really know if that was something he wanted to stick to, and how Elena had very quickly dropped out of cheer leading. At one point Jeremy stood up to go put up his tray. It wasn't long until I followed leaving the group of older kids on their own. We had a twenty minute lunch that I had finished in about seven, so I decided to head to the library. Study hall was next anyways, so I'd just go early to look around.

After school I waited for Stefan next to the vehicle, a mountain of papers in my hand, most of them from the History teacher Alaric, who the group seemed to be friends with. He told me that I didn't necessarily have to anything other than what got graded, but it would catch me up for the upcoming test. I hated transferring schools in the middle of the semester.

It was twenty minutes later, and the school was mostly empty when I stormed inside the school. I ran into Alaric again while looking for Stefan. "Hey, have you seen Stefan?" I asked him.

Alaric frowned. "He, uh, needed to go outside for a bit. A girl accidentally cut herself pretty badly so he had to leave." Alaric said. I was shocked, how many people knew about the brothers, I was under the impression that me and Elena were the only ones. "I can take you home if you want, I need to talk to Damon anyways." Alaric said grabbing his bag. You knew you were late leaving the school whenever the teacher could give you a ride home.

Once I was settled in the car Ric bombarded me. "So you know?" He asked me. I nodded slowly not understanding where he was going with this. "Are you wearing vervain?" He asked me I shook my head no. "We'll ask Damon, I also want to give you a wooden stake, there's one in the glove compartment." I opened the glove compartment to see a small wooden stake. "It's small enough you can hide it, but big enough to stab the heart if one of them were to lose control and attack you." He told me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Are they known for killing house guests?" I asked only joking. Ric did not appreciate it though. "Damon may be my best friend, but yes they are."

 **Hey guys! So this is going to kind of mess up the Vampire Diaries timeline, mostly things will just go faster, but I may introduce certain characters early or late. I want to emphasize that it starts in season one but does _NOT_** **stick to the same timeline. I hope you all enjoy. Also it is pre-written so if you have any ideas, go ahead and give them to me so I can do some re-writes, but it can't be anything to insane.**


	5. Chapter 5

I took a deep breath and walked back into the large darkened house more nervous than I was before. "Damon you home!?" I called setting my bad down in a chair in the parlor, living room, thing. Damon walked down the stairs with an annoyed look on his face, and a startled girl wearing nothing but a sheet. I turned my head suddenly, "Oh, uh, I'm sorry." I said quickly. Damon whispered something to the girl who went back up the stairs. I shuddered grossed that I had caught my guardian doing the dirty. "Ric said that I need to ask you for some vervain." I said slightly confused.

Damon nodded. "Oh, yeah, probably should've given you some earlier. Alaric is going to have my head." He started walking over to the basement door, I followed. "Look, I can't really go in the room we keep it in, so just go in and pluck some off." He explained once we were down in the hallway. I gulped looking around, it literally looked like a dungeon, maybe I wasn't so keen on staying here as I first thought. I walked into the room picked some off and walked back out, feeling safer already with the plant in my hand.

"So what, am I just supposed to make a flower crown out of it?" I asked with obvious sarcasm. "Because this thing isn't exactly in fashion." Damon rolled his eyes. "Look we can get you a charm and you can put it in that, for now just put a little in your food every day." He said and walked back upstairs leaving me alone in the basement. It wasn't that the brothers weren't nice to me, so far they had been, it was just that it wasn't the company I had been hoping for. I walked back upstairs planning on doing my homework before I remembered that I had Elena's number.

I sat there staring at my phone for who knows how long, it would be kind of weird to go spend time with upperclassman, but then again, Elena had told me to call her if I ever needed anything. I typed a message before hitting cancel, what if she meant that as in only if there is an emergency. I took a deep breath and typed the same exact message and sent it this time. The worst that would happen is that she would make up some excuse as why she couldn't study together and I would pretend like I didn't know it was just an excuse and we'd move on.

It was only a couple minutes before Elena replied. I breathed a sigh of relief, she was already with Bonnie and Caroline, and they'd love it if I joined them. I thought about hollering to Damon that I was leaving but I decided interrupting him twice wouldn't be a good idea, so I just wrote a note to leave on a table before heading to the vehicle. It was a short drive to the Gilbert's house, but I was still thankful when I finally got there. I was ready for some normal to be back in my life, I hadn't had it all year.

After Elena invited me in I got out my work and set it on the table next to the other girls. We all talked a little bit, them getting to know me better. "I'm sorry we won't be able to help much." Bonnie said referring to my school work. "Maybe, Jeremy could come down and help?" She offered looking at Elena. "Since they're in the same grade. You're in the same grade right?" She asked me.

I looked at Elena with big eyes. "No, it's okay, I don't really need help, I just needed to around people." I said too quickly. I busied myself with finding my notes for History whenever I saw curious faces look my way. "I, uh, appreciate the offer, but I was just hoping to spend some time with girls." I said deflecting my awkwardness by opening up a new conversation.

"It must suck living with just Damon and Stefan, especially because of how Damon acts." Elena said rolling her eyes. "He's such a jerk, he just can't go one week without pestering, scaring someone, or ruining someone's day." She said indignantly. I frowned confused, I knew that Damon wasn't anyones favorite person, but I didn't realize how much the three girls actually resented him. "I suppose he is getting better though, ever since that trip to Georgia..." She trailed off, looking at all of our curious faces. "Look it was nothing, he practically kidnapped me!" It was her turn to duck away by looking at her notes. After Bonnie and Caroline exchanged knowing glances they joined me Elena in our studies.

It was fairly late by the time we were done. Bonnie decided to spend the night and just go to school with Elena, while me Caroline left. "Damon isn't hurting you is she?" She asked hesitantly while we stood outside of our cars. "He can seem like a really good guy at times, but he isn't, and if he does anything to you, please come and tell me. I've been in a position like that before and I don't want anyone else to be."

"It's okay, I'm quite a bit younger than him, I won't be falling for any of his charms." I said and opened the door to the vehicle. "Thank you though for the warning. I got in and started the car, warming myself while I messaged Stefan that I was on my home. I figured that he'd been done hunting by now, so that I didn't have to text Damon.

I made it home around midnight, and didn't bother with getting ready for bed, instead I just yanked my back pack off and crawled underneath the covers. I fell asleep quickly and had dreams about my family, about my sister. I had done so good coping with their deaths, but being in such a strange town, where the people I was staying with didn't really know me and had made me miss them more than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the week went by quickly, I was busy getting settled in my new school and town. Friday morning came and I was riding next to Stefan quietly, my relationship with the brothers hadn't changed much. Slowly we were getting closer, more comfortable, but a separation between the Salvatores themselves made it harder for me to become close to both of them. It felt like I was going to have to take one side or the other.

"So you liking it here?" Stefan asked me glancing my way. "I know you and Damon seem to be close, but he is dangerous." Stefan said. I rolled my eyes, it would be one thing if it was just a simple warning, but it was like Stefan was making himself seem better at the expense of his brother. "I'm serious he could seriously hurt you if you just slightly annoy him."

"Look Stefan, I know about Damon, and what I hear you were much worse than Damon has ever been." Stefan stiffened and I felt like I had won. "I'm sorry if I don't trust someone who has rightfully earned the nickname of ripper." Stefan's face looked pained. "I'm sorry, it's just you've been trying so hard to be close to me, but Damon's more fun, he's been there for me more, as a guardian that is."

"It's okay." He said and parked the car, we were at the school. "I'll see you after school." I stayed in the vehicle for a moment trying to gather my thoughts. Had I really just offended a vampire? I thought as I got out of the car. I jumped, Jeremy was standing right behind the car door.

"Good grief!" I said, taking a deep breath. Jeremy chuckled at me and matched my pace as I walked up to the school. "What do you want, Gilbert? You've barely talked to since Monday." I wasn't really mad at him, just still irritated from the Stefan discussion.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't really sure if you wanted to hang around me that badly." He shrugged, genuinely distressed that I was mad at him. "To make it up to you, do you want to come to the party tonight?" I asked.

"I already am, you invited me at the beginning of the week." Opening up my locker I turned to look at him. "But yes I am going."

"No, I mean with me." He said, looking slightly nervous. "If you want to of course." I grinned, grabbing my books out of the locker before closing it again. "Yes I'd love to go with you tonight." I said and turned walking away from him, towards my first class.

The rest of the day went by just like the one before that, and the one before that. Once the last bell rang I pulled out my phone and texted Stefan, telling him I'd find another way home. I thought about asking Elena to drive me, but it was out of her way so I settled on walking. I put in my headphones and started what would turn out to be a forty minute to an hour walk. I knew it would be hard to adjust living with vampires, but I didn't realize that the reason why it would be hard was because they were so moody.

After a while of walking I found myself deterring off of the street I should've stayed on. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't know where anything was in this town, I just knew I didn't want to go home yet. I felt a tear drop down my cheek and I wiped it away furiously, I had gone so long without crying over the ones I'd lost, I wasn't about to let that happen now.

It was eight o'clock before I decided to go back to the mansion, I was meeting Jeremy at the party at ten, and I still needed to eat and shower. By the time I got back to the house it was about ten after nine, it probably wouldn't have taken that long, but I got slightly lost on the way. "Where the hell have you been!" Damon ran in, looking slightly disheveled, holding a glass of some kind of drink.

"I'm sorry me and Stefan got in a fight, then school didn't go very good, and I really didn't feel like riding with holier than thou Stefan!" I was shouting, I didn't know why I was shouting, but I was.

"Why do you care about how good Stefan is, it isn't like any of it applies to you." He said annoyed. "Anyways he's the one out there looking for you, you should text him and tell him you're home." He said before walking away. "And you can forget the party tonight."

"I got mad because of the way he looks at you Damon. You've been the parental influence I need ever since I got here, he's just been slightly more nice. And then he has the nerve to talk about you like you're this evil thing!" Damon did his vampire zap thing, getting close to my face.

"He's right, Maverick, I am that terrible person, I hurt people, a lot!" He snarled, I didn't flinch, he just turned around and walked away. "You know what, you can go tonight as far as I care, you clearly have a death wish, who am I to stop you!" I growled before storming up the stairs to my room to get ready for tonight, texting Stefan on my way up. I knew that if I kept testing their patience like this, they were going to have to become strict, but I'd deal with that issue when it came.

 **I hope you guys are liking this! I know it's slow going, but there is a lot of setup for this one. Also sorry for the short chapter, originally this chapter had the party scene, but it just made it too long. Anyways please R &R!**


	7. Chapter 7

I took a deep breath staring down at the steps, technically I wouldn't be alone, but then again... "Screw it!" I whispered and bounded down the steps, trying to be quiet since the boys were still awake. I paused when I got to the end of the hallway, listening to make sure that the boys weren't near by. What I heard was... fighting, Stefan was shouting at Damon over something. I grinned, it was a perfect time to escape. I made it out the door and headed to the garage.

Stopping outside of the Gilbert's house I waited, tapping the steering wheel. I knew better than to go knock on the door, hell Jeremy had even had me turn off the lights when I got close. It was five minutes later when Jeremy ran out to the vehicle, an angry looking woman scowling from the door way. I sunk down in my seat hoping that she didn't see me. "Don't worry, Elena will be there too, so it's not a big deal." He said and buckled. "But I would hurry before she gets the nerve to come out here."

I nodded and put the vehicle in gear, following Jeremy's direction to the patch of woods that the party would be at. There were a few people there when we arrived, but it didn't seem to be in full swing yet. The steady flow of cars following us said that it wouldn't be long though. "Alright," Jeremy said with a big grin. I walked towards the crowd smiling slightly. I hadn't been to a party in ages, the last one I went to was also my first, it was one that the juniors had to let the freshman come. This one seemed like it wasn't going to be nearly as rowdy as the one in St. Louis.

"Booze, then weed, then dancing." Jeremy said sorta loudly. The music was noisy but it wasn't intense, drowning out all other noise. I nodded my head in agreement with him, we hit the kegs and both got ourselves a red solo cup. I didn't see anyone smoking so I wasn't quite sure what Jeremy had meant about the drugs. "This way." He said grabbing my hand and dragging me across the field towards the thick darkness of the trees. I caught on, the drugs weren't included in the party, it was his own crowds fun. We met up with a couple of kids in a small ring of trees.

"Hey, Jeremy, whose this?" A boy asked giggling. High people were annoying until you were high with them, meaning I would be taking a hit ASAP. "This is Maverick, she's been staying the Salvatore brothers." Jeremy explained to the boy. "We just want a couple hits, she likes to dance." He said pointing towards me. I rolled my eyes, the statement wasn't true, but I realized he wasn't actually fond of these people.

Just like he had promised Jeremy rolled a joint and split it between me and him. After that he said his goodbyes and we headed back to the thick of the party. There were a lot of people there, a surprising amount for such a small town, it seemed like there weren't any true good kids in Mystic Falls. Jeremy grabbed my hands once more and yanked me into the group of people dancing. "I don't know normally dance, but I figure what the hell." He shrugged to me.

I grinned moving with the beat our bodies as close together as possible. His head reached down to my neck and I heard him huskily whisper. "I don't mean this to insinuate that you're easy, but damn, this feels like an invitation." I bit my lip trying to hide a smile.

"That's because it is one." I replied, it hadn't been intended to be one, but I couldn't deny that right now he was all I really wanted. "Let's go back to the Salvatore's" I said after our make out session had gotten heated. He had me leaning against a tree, him towering over my small frame. "As much as I want this right now, I really don't want to do it in the woods, contrary to popular belief, I feel like it would hurt and be rather awkward." He laughed at me and nodded, giving me my freedom back. It was my turn to grab his hand and drag him back to the car. That was when we ran into Elena.

"Oh, Elena, hey!" Jeremy said awkwardly whenever I bumped into her. "She's getting tired, so we're just going to head back." He was a terrible liar and I cringed. While at this point I didn't care what the brothers said, I didn't really want Jeremy's older sister to know. Elena narrowed her eyes a dark look coming across her features. "Yeah, yeah, I know we'll talk about this later." Jeremy finally said defeated. I was sure the mood had been lost, but whenever we made it to my car he went back to attacking my lips.

"I can't drive if your still kissing me, Jeremy." I said finally finding the willpower to pull back. "And I for one don't like the idea of doing this in a car." I said starting the vehicle, I knew driving while intoxicated wasn't good, but I also knew I wasn't so bad that I just couldn't do it. I pulled out of the woods and onto the road, speeding towards the Salvatore house.

Once we finally got there I parked the car and got unbuckled, Jeremy leaned over kissed me again. "Can we please go in now?" He said, pouting like a puppy. I nodded my head, we sneaked through the house and into my bedroom, I knew the brothers had vamp hearing so they would probably hear what was about to happen, but I doubted they'd be brave enough to come in and stop it. Sure enough, I was right, no one came into my room until the next morning. "Alright you two up!" It was Stefan, and he was pissed. Jeremy bounced up in a lively manner, but I just rolled over. "You out!" He shouted at Jeremy who then took off, he already had his boxers on, but had to grab his clothes. "I, uh, don't have a ri-" The youngest Gilbert started.

"Already called Elena." He said, he didn't turn around to look at him, and I knew why. Stefan's eyes were red and viens were pulsing around them. He was beyond pissed. "What the hell were you thinking!" He shouted at me. "Not only did you just screw my girlfriend's younger brother, you were out after dark, and you drove while intoxicated!" He turned around from me suddenly, making me jump. "You aren't to leave this house all weekend, you're staying here!" I wanted to argue, but Stefan's tone made it very clear that it would not end up good, so I just nodded. "I made breakfast, if you want any." He added quieter, before leaving my room.


	8. Chapter 8

The weekend was tense, Stefan was hardly at the house, and when I asked Damon about he just told me that he was hunting. That was the other issue, Damon was hardly talking to me, I didn't know if I had pissed him off somehow, or if it was just Damon being Damon. I took the time to study for some upcoming tests, and catch up on the assignments that Ric gave me.

It was Sunday night whenever the boredom got to me, both the boys were out of the house, and I wanted to do some exploring. It didn't take me long to find a door to the attic, I had already seen the basement, and while it was creepy, there wasn't a lot to see. The attic on the other hand... It was full of boxes and crates and chests, of regular family handy-me-downs, but others had amulets, necklaces, ancient books, diaries from generations ago. I decided to pick up one of those. I didn't know much about the Salvatores, the family I had descended from.

I spent about four hours up there, reading and reading, I had discovered interesting things about the boys before they were vampires, it seemed as if it the journals I was reading were there fathers. Sadly there wasn't a lot about vampires or witches, the world that I had recently been introduced to. "What are you doing?" I heard Damon ask, he sounded annoyed, but not angry. "Curiosity killed the cat you know." He said walking up and packing away some of the stuff I had gotten out. I put down the journal I was currently reading, and helped him. "If you wanted to know about something you could've just asked. Why do you care so much anyways?"

We walked back down to the main floors of the house, me contemplating an answer to Damon's question. "I think I may be slightly jealous, I know that Stefan would kill me for saying this, but I don't want to live a normal life, it's boring, and your lives are not boring." I explained, as soon as it came out of my mouth I knew it sounded childish, I mean, the brothers had been through so much, lost so much.

"Hell, yeah!" Damon said smirking. "Who wouldn't want to live forever, drink as much as you want, and get to do virtually whatever you want." I laughed at him. I knew he was only joking, if I were to ever straight up ask if I could become a vampire, he would sit me down and lecture me. But then again, as badly as I wanted an interesting life, I don't think I would ever voluntarily become what they were. "Alright, it is one A.M. on a Sunday night, you need to go to bed." I grunted at him but went up to my room none the less, wondering if I would be riding to school with Stefan.

It turned out I would be riding with Stefan, that day, the next, day and the day after that. He never let me out of his sight except for when I was actually in class, and him and Elena were doing an excellent job at keeping me and Jeremy away from each other. It turned out that they both agreed that not only was a bad influence on Jeremy, but Jeremy was a bad influence on me. It was annoying, I wouldn't say I loved Jeremy, but I certainly didn't want to be cut off from him either. He had been first real friend in that stupid town.

Wednsday came and went, and finally I got a text from little Gilbert. He wanted to hang out tonight, at the Grill, and I was more than okay with that. "Hey Damon!" I called leaving my room, where I had been hiding myself from Stefan ever since the party. "Damon!" I called again, I knew he was in the house and I knew he would be able to hear me, even without raising my voice. "If you're with a girl I will interrupt!" I called again, still nothing. I finally found him when I went down the stairs, it looked like the boys had just gotten in an arguement, leaving Damon bloody and bruised. Stefan had used wood, which meant it had been a serious fight, but even then, why wasn't Damon healing.

"Damon, what happened?" I asked rushing over to him. "Why aren't you healing?" I asked quickly, I had a pretty solid guess, but I didn't want to start digging around in his stomach for no reason.

"My brother's girlfriend is a pain in the ass, and attracts, the most annoying people!" He shouted and then tensed holding his side. I breathed a sigh of relief, it must've been that strange vampire that the boys had been hunting, not Stefan. "I can't get all the wood out." He looked at me eyes in pain. "Stefan went after that guy, but I can't find the few pieces left." I nodded in understanding. My first instinct was to start wiht washing my hands, but I knew that as long as I got all the wood out, he would heal and there would be no infection.

I bit my lip. "I'm going to try not to hurt you, but I've never really done this before." I said pulling up my sleeve and reaching my hand into the wound. I shuddered at the hot sticky feeling, this was not my definition of fun. Finally I pulled out the five problem pieces, and Damon healed again, almsot immediately. "Good, now that that's done, do you care if I go to the grill tonight, I can take a stake if that'll make you feel better?" I asked, hoping to get a yes. Damon thought about it for a moment before finally nodding his head. I grinned happily. "Good, I won't be back too late."


	9. Chapter 9

It was seven thirty when I met Jeremy at the Mystic Grill, there was a mix of families, drunks, and teenagers there. It truly was the only place in this town worth spending time at. I spotted Jeremy at the pool table, watching who I had learned were Matt and Tyler play pool. I had thought that him and Tyler hated each other, but I wouldn't question it. I walked up to see that all of them had drinks, stupid founding family kids got everything they wanted. Although, just like Matt I would still use their name to get what I wanted also.

"Saved this on for you." Jeremy said, handing me a glass of scotch. I took a drink and smiled wildly. "Tyler, Matt, this is Maverick." Jeremy introduced me to the two jocks. I nodded my head and scooted a bar stool over so I could sit and watch them play. I would've played too, but I was no good, and didn't feel like making a fool out of myself. So I sat and talked and drank, and kissed and drank, and teased and drank. Until about ten, when I finally decided that if I didn't get home soon, Damon would never let me go out like this on another school night.

"I got to go guys." I said, hopping off my bar stool and staggered a little, the alcohol hitting me. "Are you going to be okay to drive?" Matt, who was still mostly sober asked. 'If you need a ride I can give you one, it'd be better than you getting hurt." I was embarrassed by the offer and shook my head. "Thanks for the offer though." I replied with a smile, and somehow managed to make it out the door looking like I hadn't had a drop all night.

When I got in the car, though, the feeling came smacking back into me. I shook my head trying to get rid of the feeling before starting the car and heading out onto the road. I knew that, even without being intoxicated the back roads in these towns were dangerous. Mystic Falls lost multiple teenagers to car accidents a year. I kept that in mind and attempted to go more slowly, regretting my decision to drive, especially since I was having a hell of a time staying on my side of the road. Just as I caught myself once again drifting to the left side of the road I immediately saw the vehicle that I hadn't noticed before. I yanked on the wheel, and knew before I even left the road that I was going to crash. I hit the ditch and felt the vehicle lurch off of the ground and flipped.

I closed my eyes as I felt the impact of the landing. I sucked in a breath my head foggy. The vehicle hadn't landed perfectly upside down, but rather on its side, on the drivers side. I felt a pain in my arm, and another in my chest, but I didn't dare look, going into shock wouldn't help now. Instead I used the adrenaline and unbuckled, screaming when my weight went even more heavily on my arm. I moved so my feet were facing the passenger window and kicked against it. I felt more pain in my abdomen, I knew something was sticking out, but I didn't have time to look at it, smoke started filling the inside, and I was scared that the car had caught on fire. I finally busted my way out and landed with a thud. I dug around in my pocket for my phone, dialing Stefan's number.

"Where are you!" He shouted angrily, it wasn't too late yet, so I didn't' know why he would be so angry. "Matt and Jeremy called me saying they were worried, because you decided to drive home when you couldn't even walk!" He shouted angrily, I wanted to yell back about how he was being mean to someone who just flipped their car, but then remembered he didn't know.

"Stefan, I'm by Gator Road." I started sucking in a breath the adrenaline leaving, and the pain was intensifying. "I flipped the car, my arms all messed up, and something is inside of my stomach." I said, not fighting the tears that were coming. "I think I hit my head too." I heard Stefan curse under his breath, alright, I'm already out looking for you, I'll be there in a second." He said quickly. He didn't hang up, like I thought he would, instead he stayed on the line, keeping me talking, keeping me awake.

It wasn't even five minutes later when he showed up, faster than any ambulance could have. "I'm here!" He said holding out his arm. "Drink now." He had already opened a vein. I felt him put it to my mouth and swallowed down the thick blood. "Damon is talking to the 911 dispatcher now." He explained yanking what had been a metal rod in my side. "Just tell them that you were very lucky." He told me. He didn't sound like he was talking to someone under his care, but rather a stranger. His body told me something different, his face was filled with guilt and worry, and his hands were digging in the ground by my side.

"Why is it taking so long to work?" I asked, I had always been told that vampire blood had the same effect as the vampires instant healing. "It still hurts."

He chuckled moving my hair away from my face. "It works at different speeds for different people, I've seen it take a few days to heal injuries like yours before, plus my blood isn't as potent since I don't drink human blood." He explained. I leaned into him closing my eyes. "Don't go to sleep yet, you may have a concussion." He said jarring me awake, I thoroughly annoyed. "You're going to be alright, the sheriff said that if you are okay Damon can take you home, I'll stay here and answer questions." He told me. I nodded thankful to be able to go home and rest.


	10. Chapter 10

I laid in bed the next morning, feeling a thousand times better than the night before, apparently Stefan's blood had also cured any hangover I was supposed to have. "Hey." Damon said with a soft smile. "We were worried about you, you know, you can't just run off and do shit like that." He said, he was being rather harsh, but I knew why. "If you were in trouble before, you're really in trouble now. You'll start back to school tomorrow, you won't do anything but school, until me and Stefan say. I nodded, I'd done something stupid, and I wouldn't argue, I deserved to be punished.

"Why did Stefan's blood take so long to heal me?" I asked, hoping to get a better answer than the one I got from the younger brother the previous night. "I had always been told vampire blood was like some kind of ambrosia that could heal anything almost instantly." The look in Damon's eyes were pained, making me worry even more, something wasn't right.

"While it does take some people longer to heal than others, it shouldn't be taking this long, something is wrong with my brother." Damon said, I still knew something was up, but I didn't know their world well enough to figure out what it was. "Are you hungry, I'll make you some soup, your stomach is still pretty messed up so it probably wouldn't be good to give you solids yet." He said leaving the room. I smiled, I'd never seen him care so much about anything before.

The next two weeks went by with tense worry. Stefan kept a close eye on me, and Damon kept an eye on Stefan. Then suddenly something happened, Damon stopped paying attention to Stefan, and instead joined him with paying attention to me. I began to realize it was more than just to keep me out of trouble, something was going on, and it pissed me off that I didn't get to know what.

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself?" Damon asked me, both him and Stefan were in fifties get up, apparently they were still trying to figure out who mystery vamp was and the decade dance had something to do with it. The decade dance, that, since I was grounded, I couldn't go to. "Because if you need someone here to keep you company we can always find someone..." Stefan trailed off at the dirty look I was giving him.

"I realize that I'm still only in high school, but I will be fine for one evening." I said with distaste. "So please, go!" I said pushing on both of them with one hand, they moved towards the door, but not because of my efforts. "Have fun, I'll see you later." I said and waved goodbye before shutting the door behind them and sighing with relief. I was about to be able to do some snooping and possibly figure out why they were being so over protective of me.

I started in Damon's bedroom and found shit. All that was in there were booze and clothes, he didn't even have any books laying around. I knew he had to have some stuff hidden away somewhere, but I didn't have the slightest clue where that could be. So instead I headed to Stefan's room, and boy was his much more promising. He had journals and books and photos laying all over. I started with his notebooks, he had written some things, all angsty and hurt filled. I kept reading until finally I found a short entry from a few days ago. _She isn't who we thought she was, we're keeping an eye on her to see if anything develops._ I frowned, it could've been about me, or about Elena, or about anyone else. I growled in frustration. Maybe I would end up having to ask them.

Giving up I went to my room and turned on the TV, I fell asleep quickly, hoping it would be an escape to the questions running through my head. I woke up the next morning to two very cranky boys, I didn't want to piss them off, but I had to know what was going on. "Something has to give." I said bluntly walking into the solemn room where both boys were drinking and moping. "You have been following me around everywhere, questioning me, and freaking out, I want to know what is going on!" I demanded angrily.

Stefan's eyes looked hurt, and Damon just seemed annoyed. Damon was the one who answered. "We think you may be connected to the originals." Damon said quietly. "If it's true then that means they could come for you." He took a deep breath, "But you don't seem to even know what I'm talking about, and you hardly even know what a vampire is." Damon finished.

"In short, we ruled it out." Stefan said. "So you don't have to worry about it anymore, you can also be ungrounded." He told me and tossed me back my phone, which had been confiscated. "Right now we just want to rest." They both seemed tired, so while I wanted to push, I didn't. Instead I walked out the door. It was a beautiful day to take a walk around the property, and that's exactly what I did.

 **So I hope everyone is still liking it, and no that is not the end to Maverick, she is indeed a strange one. I mean, no one in Mystic Falls is completely normal! Anyways please R &R, I'd really like to know what you all think. Also, if you're a supernatural fan, you should check out my Alex Chronicles, I wrote the first one when I was like fourteen, so it isn't the best quality, but by the end it's worth it. **


	11. Chapter 11

I walked to school the next Monday, it didn't make Stefan happy, but it wasn't night time, and we didn't live that far, so there wasn't much they could do to stop me. The walk was peaceful, I enjoyed, hearing the wild life and not have to talk to another human being... or vampire. It took me close to two hours to make it to the building, and I was still pushing on being late, I didn't care though, school meant nothing to me at this point.

"Long time, no see." Jeremy walked up beside me and winked. I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious, I know you've been ungrounded, why haven't you talked to me?" He asked, his tone turning to one of hurt. My heart broke when I looked up at his sad puppy dog eyes. "Was it just a... you know... to you?" He asked. I wanted to punch myself, even a text would've been something.

"No, Jeremy I'm sorry, it's just there's a lot going one between me and the Salvatores." I explained getting my books out of my locker as the second bell rang. I stood up on my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's hang out after school okay?" I asked. When he nodded I grinned and walked towards my first class. I would have to make it up to him.

The day dragged on and on, my thoughts focused on after school, and ways I could convince Jeremy that I did want a relationship. Not only that, but also ways to convince Elena that my intentions weren't just to get him into trouble. Lunch time came, and I realized that I would get to see him then. "Jeremy hey." I said painting on a smile. He grinned back at me. "So how were your morning classes?" I asked.

"Boring... yours?" He asked as we found a place sit. "Same." I replied. It was awkward fro a moment before he finally blurted out. "I want this to be official, and a real relationship, not just screwing around." He said, I blushed at his words, surprising myself with my sudden girlish reactions. "If you can't handle that then I'm out." He finished more calmly.

"Jer, that's what I want" I looking him in the eyes. "I want a relationship with you, I always have..." I thought back to the night of the party, how I jumped to going all the way, it was a stupid move, something I regretted with every fiber of my being. "I mean, we kind of already had a second date, the night of the crash you know." I said trying to change the subject away from my many screw ups, and failing miserably. It seemed that if I had been in a situation it always ended badly.

"Where you got shit faced drunk?" He asked. He seemed mad, why was he so mad. "That doesn't count, we were just hanging out with Tyler and Matt, that's not a date." He said bitterly, adding an extra dose of venom while saying Tyler.

"What's that about anyways, I thought you two hated each other?" I asked, it was something I had previously decided not to question him about, but just like Damon had said, I was very curious, and didn't care about the circumstances. "First I see you two going for the others throats, and then you're hanging out at the bar all buddy buddy."

"We don't like eachother." The younger Gilbert started. "But I am friends with Matt, and Matt is friends with Tyler. In order to be able to have a mutual friend, we decided to just attempt to be civil with each other." I smirked at that, Tyler was the opposite of civil, and Jeremy wasn't much better.

"Well, I am going to skip afternoon classes, that way I can apologize appropriately. I said standing up, I hadn't touched my food, but whatever, I wasn't hungry anyways. I kissed him quickly. "I will see you after school, don't forget." I said winking at him before walking away, sneaking around the back to make it out without getting caught.

When five o'clock came around, I was waiting out by the lake, I had already sent Jeremy the text telling him the location of our date. All I had left to do was wait. Jeremy was going to be there at five thirty, so I had a lot of time to kill. I stood up from the blanket I had laid out, the boredom taking hold, and decided to take a walk. I checked my phone to see if I had any messages, when I saw I didn't I started walking towards the woods.

I had explored them a couple of times before, but not enough to make me comfortable to walk too far. After ten minutes I realized I was completely lost and growled in frustration. "Dammit!" I shouted kicking a rock. I thought about telling Jeremy I would be late, but I still had twenty minutes and didn't want to jump the gun. So instead I started looking around for something familiar. There was absolutely nothing. I was so frigging done!

"Easy there, don't want to pull something now do we." I jumped at the smooth British accent. I grabbed my stake looking around finding that the source was to my left. "Put that down, there's no reason to be waving that at an old friend." He put his arms up making a faux pleading face.

"Who are you?" I asked my eyes narrowed. I thought about just attacking him, but I knew that he would be much stronger, much faster, especially since he knew what the stake was. It was a sure sign that he wasn't human.

"Klaus." He said with a grin. "You don't remember me, but I was a good friend of yours back when you were a baby."

 **So that is the end of the beginning, I'm not sure how long this series will end up being, but I do have an outline I'm actually following this time! Anywho, I think I'm going to take a break from this and work on another supernatural fanfiction... what can I say I'm addicted. Please R &R and let me know if you have anything you'd like to see in this series' future. **


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